Sciences Po (French pronunciation: ​[sjɑ̃s po]), or Paris Institute of Political Studies (French: Institut d'études politiques de Paris, French pronunciation: ​[ɛ̃s.ti.ty de.tyd pɔ.li.tik də pa.ʁi]), is a highly selective French university (legally a grande école). It was founded as a private institution by Émile Boutmy in 1872 to promote a new class of French politicians in the aftermath of the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian war of 1871 [1] and grew to become a highly influential academic institution in the social sciences in France. Alumni include many notable public figures, including seven of the last eight French presidents, 12 foreign heads of state or government, heads of international organizations (including the UN, WTO, IMF and ECB), and six of the CAC 40 CEOs. The pervasiveness of the school's graduates in French society has led to claims that Sciences Po, together with other prominent grandes écoles, is perpetuating a technocracy of out-of-touch leaders.

Sciences Po was established in February 1872 as the École Libre des Sciences Politiques by a group of French intellectuals, politicians and businessmen led by Émile Boutmy, and including Hippolyte Taine, Ernest Renan, Albert Sorel and Paul Leroy Beaulieu. Following defeat in the 1870 war, the demise of Napoleon III, and the Paris Commune, these men sought to reform the training of French politicians. Politically and economically, people feared France's international stature was waning due to inadequate teaching of its political and diplomatic corps. ELSP was meant to serve as "the breeding ground where nearly all the major, non-technical state commissioners were trained."[2]

ELSP proved very successful at preparing candidates for entry into senior civil service posts, and acquired an image as a major feature of France’s political system. From 1901 to 1935, 92.5% of entrants to the Grands Corps de l'État, which comprises the most powerful and prestigious administrative bodies in the French civil service, had studied there (this figure includes people who took civil service examination preparatory classes at Sciences Po but did not earn a degree).[4]

Charles de Gaulle, as leader of France’s Provisional Government, appointed Michel Debré to overhaul of the recruiting and training of public servants. Though eight of thirteen ministers in De Gaulle’s government were Sciences Po alumni, the university had also been instrumental in training the class of leaders whom many accused of having given in to Nazi aggression. Communist politicians including Georges Cogniot proposed abolishing the ELSP entirely and founding a new state-run administration college on its premises.[7]

Debré proposed the compromise that was eventually adopted. First, the government established the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA), an elite postgraduate college for training government officials. From then on, the Grands Corps de l’Etat were obliged to recruit new entrants exclusively from the ENA's graduates.[8] In 1945, the École libre des sciences politiques was restructured into two separate legal entities: the Institut d'études politiques (IEP) and the Fondation nationale des sciences politiques (FNSP). Though legally a public institution, it was to be managed by a private trust, the newly-established Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques (English: National Foundation of Political Science) or FNSP, with Roger Seydoux as its first president. Though the appointment of high-ranking faculty members now required government approval, the FNSP allowed Sciences Po to retain considerable administrative autonomy.[5] Both entities were tasked by the French government to ensure "the progress and the diffusion, both within and outside France, of political science, economics, and sociology".[2]

The epithet Sciences Po was applied to both entities, which inherited the reputation previously vested in ELSP.[9] France's Legislature entrusted FNSP with managing IEP Paris, its library, and budget, and an administrative council assured the development of these activities. The curriculum and methodology of the ELSP were also the template for creating a network of institutes of political studies throughout the country, namely in Strasbourg, Lyon, Aix, Bordeaux, Grenoble, Toulouse, and then in Rennes and Lille. They are not to be confused with the seven campuses of Sciences Po in France.

It was now the ENA rather than Sciences Po that fed graduates directly into senior civil service posts. However, Sciences Po became the university of choice for those hoping to enter the ENA, and so retained its dominant place in educating high-ranking officials.[10]

Between 1952 and 1969, 77.5% of the ENA’s graduate student intake were Sciences Po alumni.[11]

FNSP further strengthened its role as a scientific publication center with significant donations from the Rockefeller Foundation. FNSP periodicals such as la Revue française de science politique, le Bulletin analytique de documentation, la Chronologie politique africaine, and the Cahiers de la Fondation as well as its seven research centres and main publishing house, Presses de Sciences Po, consolidated the university's reputation as a research hub.[2]

Sciences Po underwent various reforms under the directorship of Richard Descoings (1997–2012). In these years, Sciences Po introduced a compulsory year abroad component to its undergraduate degree, and began to offer a multilingual curriculum in French, English[14], and other languages. It was during this period that Sciences Po added its regional campuses.

Sciences Po also implemented reforms in its admissions process. Previously, Sciences Po recruited its students exclusively on the basis of a competitive examination. This system was seen to favor students from prestigious preparatory high schools or those who could afford year-long preparatory courses. In 2001, Science Po founded the Equal Opportunity Program governing council widened its admissions policy.[15] This program enables the institution to recruit high-potential students at partner high schools in France who, due to a social and financial constraints, would not otherwise have applied to Sciences Po[16]. This process has been accused of being superficial and being in fact a "lotto for poor people"[17]

From 2001 to 2011, the proportion of scholarship students at Sciences Po went from 6 percent to 27 percent[18].

Descoings was accused of "reigning as almighty master on his school, by distributing material advantages and "small envelopes", and setting up a clientelist and authoritarian "carrot system""[19] and to implement a "management of fear".[20]

2013–2017: reorganization and development under President Frédéric Mion[edit]

Frédéric Mion, a graduate of Sciences Po, ENA and École Normale Supérieure and former secretary general of Canal+, was appointed president of Sciences Po on 1 March 2013.[21] His intention to pursue Sciences Po's development as a "selective university of international standing" is detailed in the policy paper "Sciences Po 2022", published in the spring of 2014. The restructuring of Master's study into graduate schools continued with the creation of the School of Public Affairs[22] and the Urban School in 2015 and the School of Management and Innovation[23] in 2016.

In early 2016, Sciences Po updated its governance structure, adopting new statutes for its two constituent bodies: the Fondation nationale des sciences politiques (FNSP) and the Institut d'études politiques de Paris (IEP).[24] This reform is "the most significant since 1945" and clarifies Sciences Po's governance with new rules, which address observations made by the Cour de comptes in a 2012 report.

In late 2016, Sciences Po acquired a new site, the Hôtel de l'Artillerie in the 6th arrondissement of Paris,[25] which it intends to make the new heart of its urban campus and a seat of "educational renewal".

The Paris campus hosts undergraduate students enrolled in the general curriculum programme, the dual Bachelor’s degree with UCL as well as all seven graduate schools. The Paris campus is spread across several buildings concentrated around the Boulevard Saint-Germain in the 6th and 7th arrondissements (districts).[27] The historic centre of Sciences Po at 27 rue Saint-Guillaume houses the head office and central library since 1879. It is also home to Sciences Po's two largest teaching halls, the Amphitheatres Émile Boutmy and Jacques Chapsal. Other buildings include:

117, boulevard Saint-Germain: School of Journalism

199, boulevard Saint-Germain: Doctoral School

174 and 224, boulevard Saint-Germain: offices and classrooms

13, rue de l'Université / The René Rémond building: Law School and administrative offices

56, rue Jacob: Research Center for History (Centre d'histoire de Sciences Po) and International Relations (Centre d'études et de recherches internationales)

rue d'Assas and rue de la Cassette at the Institut Catholique

In 2016 Sciences Po purchased the Hôtel de l’Artillerie, a 17th-century former monastery located 200 meters from its campus on Rue St.Guillaume. The building was previously the property of the French Ministry of Defense and is 14,000m2 in size. The university has announced its intention to refurbish the building as a major addition to its facilities in Paris. It is estimated that this project will cost around 200 million euros in total.[28][29]

The Hôtel de l’Artillerie will house new facilities for Sciences Po’s graduate programs, including a courtroom for the Law School and a newsroom for the Journalism School. It will also incorporate a cafeteria, study areas and accommodation for 50 to 100 students on scholarships.[30]

Frédéric Mion, the director of Sciences Po, stated his intention to create a campus comparable in quality and capacity to Sciences Po’s most prominent international partner universities such as Columbia University, the London School of Economics and Hong Kong University.[31]

Work will begin at the site in 2018. It is scheduled to open in 2021.[32]

Located on the coast of Normandy, Le Havre has hosted the undergraduate Euro-Asian campus since 2007, recently celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the campus in September 2017. With a choice between a history, law, or economics major, students primarily choose to spend their third year abroad in an Asian country. Furthermore, Le Havre is home to six Dual Degree programs, and welcomes international students from dozens of countries.

The academic bodies of Sciences Po consist of the University College, six professional schools, and the Doctoral School. The university also contains a library system, the Presses de Sciences-Po, and holds ties with a number of independent academic institutions, including Columbia University, the National University of Singapore, and the Sorbonne Paris Cité alliance.

The Sciences Po Undergraduate College offers a three-year Bachelor of Arts degree with a multidisciplinary foundation in the humanities and social sciences with emphasis on civic, linguistic, artistic, and digital training.[33]

On all campuses, students choose a multidisciplinary major - Politics & Government, Economies & Societies, or Political Humanities. In addition, each campus offers a different regional concentration that anchors students intellectual objectives : Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East-Mediterranean, and North America.

At the graduate level, Sciences Po's seven schools offer one- and two-year Master's programmes and PhD programmes. All graduate programmes are delivered on the Sciences Po campus in Paris. Sciences Po also hosts dual Master's programmes with international partners. Students enrolled in these dual degree programmes spend one year at Sciences Po in Paris and one year at the partner university.[35]

Research at Sciences Po covers economics, law, history, sociology and political science, while also taking in many interdisciplinary topics such as cities, political ecology, sustainable development, socio-economics and globalization.

Sciences Po is home to a research community that includes over 200 researchers and 350 PhD candidates.[37] In 2015, 32% of the university’s budget was devoted to research. That year, 65% of its research publications were in French, 32% in English and 3% in other languages.[38]

The university has numerous research centers, seven of which are affiliated with France’s National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).[39]

Center for Socio-Political Data (CDSP), which provides scientifically-validated data for international survey programs. It also supports training in data collection and analysis.

Centre d'études européennes (CEE), which focuses on inter-disciplinary European studies; participation, democracy and government; election analyses; the restructuring of the state and public action.

Centre for International Studies (CERI), which produces comparative and historical analysis on foreign societies, international relations, and political, social and economic phenomena.

Centre for Political Research (CEVIPOF), which investigates political attitudes, behaviour and parties, as well as political thought and the history of ideas.

Centre for History (CHSP), whose research focuses on: arts, knowledge and culture; wars, conflicts and violence; states, institutions and societies; the political and cultural history of contemporary France; from local to global: international history and its levels.

Centre for the Sociology of Organizations (CSO), which conducts research on the sociology of organizations, sociology of public policy, and economic sociology. It also studies issues related to higher education and research, healthcare, sustainable development, the evolution of firms, and the transformation of the state.

Center for Studies in Social Change (OSC), which conducts research on topics such as urban, school and gender inequalities, stratification and social mobility, and ethno-racial or social segregation.

Department of Economics, which investigates areas such as labor markets, international economics, political economy, microeconomics and development.

Law School, whose research focuses on globalization, legal cultures and the economics of law. It has also produced work on the theory and history of law, public and private international law and intellectual property.

Médialab, which studies the way data generated by new information technologies is produced, circulated and exploited.[40]

Observatoire Français des Conjonctures Economiques (OFCE), which is both a research center and an independent economic forecasting body. Its stated mission is to "ensure that the fruits of scientific rigour and academic independence serve the public debate about the economy".[41][39][42]

In addition to these research units, the university has recently established three major research programs – the LIEPP, DIME-SHS and MaxPo.[39]

The Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire d'Evaluation des Politiques Publiques (LIEPP) analyzes public policy based on qualitative, comparative, and quantitative methods.[43] The laboratory has been selected by an international scientific jury as a "Laboratoire d'Excellence" (Labex) that will be financed for the next ten years by the French government.[44]

The Max Planck Sciences Po Center on Coping with Instability in Market Societies (known as MaxPo), was founded in 2012 in co-operation with the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (MPIfG). It investigates how individuals, organizations, and nation-states deal with various forms of economic and social instability. It is located at Sciences Po’s Paris campus.[46][47]

In 2005, it established a doctoral/post-doctoral partnership program with the University of Oxford to provide a platform for comparative analysis of political systems and societies.[52] OxPo, as this program is now known, facilitates academic and student exchanges between the two universities, provides grants for research collaborations, and organizes joint workshops, graduate conferences and seminars.[53]

It has a research partnership with Princeton University, providing research grants to encourage collaborative research and teaching initiatives.[54][55]

Since 2007 it has organized the Franco-British Dialogue Lecture Series in collaboration with the LSE and the French Embassy in London. The lectures are held every term at the LSE’s European Institute.[65][66]

For 2016-2017 the QS World University Rankings, based on English speaking publications,[67] ranked Sciences Po 4th in the world for Politics & International Studies (1st in France), 51-100 in Law (2nd in France), 51-100 in Economics & Econometrics (1st in France), 51-100 in Social Policy & Management (1st in France), 51-100 (2nd in France) in History, 62nd in Social Sciences & Management (3rd in France), and T44th in Sociology (1st in France). Overall, it ranked 220 in the world (7th in France).[68]Times Higher Education ranked Sciences Po 50th in the world for social sciences (1st in France) for 2018.[69]Foreign Policy magazine ranked Sciences Po T21st in the world to obtain a master's degree for a policy career in International Relations in 2015 (3rd in Europe).[70] In the 2013 Times Higher Education Alma Mater Index of Global Executives, a ranking of an academic institution's number of degrees awarded to chief executives of the world’s biggest companies, Sciences Po is ranked 81st.[71]

Due to its prominent alumni, its selectivity and its history of providing candidates for admission to the École nationale d'administration, Sciences Po is seen in France and abroad as an elite institution[72][73][74]. However, it was criticised, as well as the École nationale d'administration, for creating in France an oligarchy of disconnected with reality, '...blinkered, arrogant and frequently incompetent people.'[75] Sciences Po is now recognized for its efforts to promote social inclusion in higher education. Central to Sciences Po’s policy to diversify its student body is the Equal Opportunity Programme, launched in 2001[76]. The rate of scholarship holders among Sciences Po students has increased four-fold over the past ten years, with 27% of students now receiving scholarships or need-based financial aid[77].

The institution is partly state-funded, and some have accused it of receiving a disproportionate share of public money. In 2012, A joint statement from Sciences Po Lille students reprentatives called Sciences Po (Paris) the "coronation of inegalitary State".[78]

Critics have accused Sciences Po of prioritizing access to professional networks over education and expertise.[79][80] As a result, the school is often nicknamed "Sciences Pipeau" (pronounced and sometimes spelled "Sciences Pipo", "pipeau" meaning "scam" in colloquial French[81]).[82][83] This nickname has also been employed by students.[84][85][86] The sociologist Nicolas Jounin, alumnus of Sciences Po, stated that the school is an "intellectual imposture" and a "financial hold-up".[87] The academic Gilles Devers criticized the institution for being the "base of the conservatism, and the mold of the molluscs that make the public elite" where "dissenting ideas are only admitted if they strengthen the system".[88] The journalist at France Culture Guillaume Erner stated that the institution is "only advertisement and artifice".[89]

Sciences Po has also been accused of being unduly helped by the media. "Almost every French newspaper is run by an almunus of Sciences Po", and most of the journalists in France are alumni from Science Po, so it would give the school "a mediatic cover without equivalent" and permit it to "cultivate a culture of secrecy" about its internal affairs.[90][91] "Sciences-Po is under-criticized," analyzes a professor. Former students are unlikely to criticize it. "Those who teach there have no interest, and not necessarily the urge, to do so. Those who are not there can hope to be there one day."[91] The journalist Ariane Chemin stated in 2013 that, because so many journalists come from Sciences Po, the school has an undue good public reputation.[92]

Alain Lancelot, director of Sciences Po from 1987 to 1996, was investigated for financial mismanagement by the French Court of Audit.[93]

Since 1997, the institution has been hit by a number of scandals, notably concerning the leadership of Richard Descoings, its director from 1997 to 2012.[94][95][96]

Descoing, president from 1997 to 2012, had been criticized for offering large sums of money (through salary rise, free accommodation, etc.) to diverse members of staff, included his wife, in spite of the fact that Sciences Po in partly stately funded.[97]

In February 2012, it has been found that an inspector of the French Court of Audit, in charge of investigating the financial behaviour of Sciences Po, was in the same time employed by Sciences Po.[98]

On 3 April 2012, Descoings was found dead in his Manhattan luxury hotel room during a trip to represent Sciences Po in New York. The police initially concluded that his death had been caused by an overdose,[99] but the final coronary report eventually stated that he died a natural death.[100] Descoings' energy on this last day and the missing phones and computer have raised questions as to the precise circumstances of his death.[101]

In October 2012, the Court of Audit reprimanded Sciences Po for financial mismanagement, accusing it of opaque remuneration procedures, unwarranted expenses claims and excessive pay-rises for managers.[102] The Court noted that the university’s complex legal status – a public university managed by a private trust – had contributed to dysfunction and waste. It also criticized the French government for increasing state funding for the university without insisting on additional public oversight.[103][104] Sciences Po has also been accused to prevail results over morals.[105]

In November 2012, Hervé Crès has been dismissed by the government, but he sought to president of Sciences Po anyway, saying that Alain Lancelot and Richard Descoings have been found guilty too, but it doesn’t matter for what concerns the presidency of Sciences Po.[106]

In July 2015, Jean-Claude Casanova, the former president of the Foundation Nationale des Sciences Politiques, the private trust which manages Sciences Po, was fined €1500 for failing to properly consult the Foundation’s Administrative Council over budgeting decisions involving public money. The Court of Financial and Budgetary Discipline eventually found Casanova guilty, but sentenced him with leniency because the procedures had some part of regularity and because it wasn’t customary in Sciences Po to follow all the financial rules.[107][108]

In February 2016, the Court of Audit noted that reforms had been made but stated that greater transparency was still needed. Frédéric Mion, director of Sciences Po since 2013, defended the university’s record and asked the judges to write their report again.[109][110]